£60K to move up the ladder

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Are you thinking of moving up the housing ladder? If so, you'll need a hefty chunk to add to your deposit, after new research revealed it costs homeowners an average of £60,000 to take the next step.

According to the latest Lloyds Bank Second Steppers Report, the typical householder will need to find an extra £58,400 to fund the move to their second home. As that's over double the average first-time buyer deposit of £25,848, it isn't only first-time buyers who could find it difficult to take the plunge.

However, this significant sum is largely thanks to rapidly rising house prices, and that in itself could be good news for current homeowners. Second steppers estimate that their homes have increased in value by 20% since they bought them (on average just over four years ago), and think that their properties have gone from £186,800 to £223,600.

Three-quarters (74%) also predict further house price inflation in the next 12 months, which could increase those values even more.

As that has added a fantastic amount of equity to a lot of homeowners' books, confidence in the market has increased. Indeed, around 40% think it'll be easier to sell this year – up from 22% who thought the same in 2013.

A clear decline in the number who wanted to move but couldn't, down from 61% in 2013 to 54% today, also suggests that more homeowners are able to comfortably take the next step.

Marc Page, mortgages director at Lloyds Bank, commented: "The jump to the next step is growing quickly for second steppers, with the gap to the second home now being almost £60,000 nationally. However, as house prices are rising and barriers to the next step are reducing, confidence about selling the first home and being able to move up is increasing. For most regions of the country, this is helping people make that jump across the gap to the next rung on the ladder."

On 31 December, phase two of the Help to Buy initiative will be withdrawn from the market. It’s certainly done wonders for the high loan-to-value sector, so we thought we’d take a closer look at the significance of the scheme and the effect it’s had.